Can I use a heat transfer kit?

The simple answer is yes.

The thing with heat transfer kits is they work well with excess heat. The Pyroclassic IV produces a different kind of heat than your traditional 'black box' style wood fire. The black box fires spit out heat almost instantly as long as you keep refueling it regularly so will therefore provide you with excess heat which is why heat transfer kits are useful for these kind of fires. The Pyro on the other hand takes longer to heat up but once up to temperature retains this heat like a kiln and gives off a lovely, warm more consistent heat with less fuel needed once the cylindrical ceramic fire chamber is hot. Many Pyro customers find this as the biggest advantage of a Pyro and have it going for 2-3 months solid during winter. However, it won't necessarily provide lots of excess heat for use in a transfer system. Our recommendation is to install the Pyro first before the transfer system as you may likely find you don't require one.

It is worth noting that in newer homes which have much better seals around doors and windows these kits can cause a negative pressure to build up in the room the fire is in as all the air is being sucked out. This results in the fire being starved of air and in some cases has even caused smoke from the starving fire being drawn back into the room. This same effect can also be caused by powerful range hoods and other fan forced systems in newer, more airtight housing.

If you are building a very airtight home, we recommend you put in an air vent, approximately the size of a fire brick. The Pyroclassic IV needs 3.6 cubic metres of air per kilogram of wood to operate effectively.